Drywall (sheetrock) is a gypsum composition in board form covered by paper on both sides typically fastened to supports such as wooden or metal studs by nails or screws with adhesive being sometimes used as an adjunct to the nails or screws. It will be appreciated that broken or torn paper around the head of any drywall fastener such as a nail or a screw is a principal concern when installing drywall. When the paper on the face side of the drywall, i.e., the side on which the fasteners are being driven into the drywall and into the supports, becomes loose, torn or broken about the fastener, the result is a "popper." Too many poppers on a given piece of drywall means that the drywall is not properly or safely attached to the supports, and could result in separation of the drywall from the support. Drywall, as is well known, is quite heavy, e.g., a 4'.times.12' length and 5" thick weighs over 100 pounds and its unanticipated separation from wall or ceiling supports could cause serious injury. Poppers also provide an unappealing appearance and are difficult to repair in a manner providing the same structural support to the drywall as intended when originally installed.
Present-day drywallers typically use nails or screws to fasten the wallboard to the underlying supports. Typically, the head of a drywall nail is concave and a sheetrock hammer face is convex. The hammer face is convex so that the paper around the head of the nail when driven home won't be broken by the hammer. Also, the convex hammer face creates the depth and expanse of a dimple in the drywall for receiving the appropriate fill. When the nail is properly driven through the drywall and into a stud, the convex face of the hammer flattens the concave nail head which catches the paper, securing it inside the dimple created by the hammer, thus preventing a popper. When properly performed, the next step is to fill the dimple with the drywall mud compound covering the nail, i.e., "spotting the fasteners," until the compound in the dimple lies flush with the surface of the drywall. It will be appreciated that the head of the drywall nail resides at the bottom of the dimple and its role is to hold the stretched surface paper of the drywall tightly to the smashed gypsum under the paper of the dimple, securing the paper to the drywall and the drywall to the support. However, even experienced drywallers will sometimes cause the paper about the nail head to be torn or broken.
Multi-purpose screws are also used to secure drywall to supports. Typically, such multi-purpose screw comprises a flat head. The screw must be recessed beneath the surface of the paper on the drywall. While the paper can and does stretch as the screw head is passing into the drywall, the paper about the screw head is oftentimes broken or torn when recessing the screw head beneath the surface of the drywall paper. Insufficient recessing of the flat head of the drywall screw relative to the paper surface leaves an insufficient dimple or recess for receiving the drywall mud compound, resulting in the inability of the mud compound to be retained in the dimple or recess and, at the same time, without having the face of the screw visible through the thin coats of compound. Driving the screw too deep into the gypsum will result, of course, in torn or loose paper and a popper. Electrically powered screw guns are often used to drive the drywall screws through the drywall and into the support. However, these can and often do drive the screw too far, creating a small hole in the paper which results in the "popper." Basically, with both the nail and screw-type fasteners for securing drywall, if the paper is broken, the installation of the drywall has not been properly achieved and, over time, problems associated with those flaws will become apparent.